What do you look for in a fantasy book?

[Lel]

Has anyone used the recommendations by goodreads? The Amazon ones have worked well for me in the past.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Lel wrote: "Has anyone used the recommendations by goodreads? The Amazon ones have worked well for me in the past."

Before I started using goodreads amazon was my go to for book recommendations.

[Mary]

I've used some of the recommendations. I give them a gimlet eye first, though.

[K.S.]

I'm not picky. I love this genre too much, and I don't have a lot of expectations with settings and so on--I like being surprised. That said, I usually don't pick up anything that's clearly derivative from its description (usually the elves, dwarves, orc thing). But even the latter I will make exceptions for, for one thing: strong writing.

Okay, forget that...even decent writing will do. Or books that won't give me a headache. That have all their facts, scenes, character development, etc. straightened out. It doesn't have to be anything mind-blowing, just straightforward, realistic world-building and characters who don't act like cardboard cut-outs.

That said, my favourite fantasy novels usually involve a large cast of characters, crazy drama, tangled relationships, intricate societies, and a variety of settings with realistic magic (if at all). Glorious, strategic wars are a plus. Have witty characters who don't take themselves too seriously and I'll praise the damn thing my whole life.

[[deleted user]]

K.S. wrote: "I'm not picky. I love this genre too much, [..] I will make exceptions for, for one thing: strong writing. ..."

Yes, agreed. But there remains a problem - recognising that 'strong writing'.

straightforward, realistic world-building and characters who don't act like cardboard cut-outs.

Yes, that is a large part of it - but same problem again - recognising what will be to your taste, be it from the cover blurb or from other people's reviews - or what? Certainly an author can not usually judge the quality of his/her own work, that is best done by a reader (certainly true in the SFF, largely self-published environment). And then you have to find a reader whose tastes match your own, and follow their reviews. And they are not always consistent! Checking through the 'compare books' button on various Goodreads profiles I am struck by the variability of ratings. There might be an academic thesis here for someone who is sufficiently motivated!

[K.S.]

Strong writing (which I can spend too many hours discussing, so I won't even touch that subject at all :p) is usually evident a few pages into any book; by this point I usually judge if I should continue based on how much (or little) headaches I've gotten thus far, and as well, what I know readers have said about the work in the past. It doesn't always work of course...there are really good writers who can't string a plot together to save their lives, and vice versa.

[Daniel]

Have you read any Anne Mccaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books? They are sort on the bridge between scifi and fantasy, and she has excellent characters with interesting development.

[Andrew]

Now that you mention dragons, while it has been a while, I really have recommend to all fantasy fans to pick up the large/complete (1300+ pages, though available in separate volumes) Bone graphic novel! A quirky, charming, humorous, different, and surprisingly deep fantasy tale. It starts out cute and goofy and fun, but becomes stark and heartfelt and epic. I don't think I've read it in nearly 10 years, but I remember it really striking at the heart of why I fell in love with fantasy as a child, without ever feeling kiddie (in spite of its whimsical art).

[Anthony]

One of the first fantasy novel i read was The Hobbit so it has been tough finding other books of this caliber. I started reading The Wheel of Time series aand Im really enjoying it. Im also reading the Critical failure books from Robert Bevan which i find hilarious:-)

[Greg]

What do I look for in a fantasy book?

I like when ordinary people (In the context of the fantasy world) have to find a way to accomplish extraordinary things. Things that maybe are outside of what the character (or group of characters) thought they were capable of.

I look for the book to be believable in the context of its own world. Reading this type of fiction requires a certain amount of "suspension of disbelief" but authors can greatly add to that by "playing by the rules".

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Very much agreed Greg. I hate when some deus ex machina superpower that has never been mentioned to that point comes in to save the day.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Greg wrote: "I look for the book to be believable in the context of its own world. Reading this type of fiction requires a certain amount of "suspension of disbelief" but authors can greatly add to that by "playing by the rules""


Completely agree with this, have you read Brandon Sanderson?

[Mary]

Sense of wonder.

Not to be achieved by throwing in names of things that can be wonderful. Indeed many authors could improve the sense of wonder by giving their non-human characters a gimlet eye and asking, "Is this elf necessary?" because frequently they aren't different enough from human characters to justify even having them be foreign.